Celebrating a Masterpiece
Merit Award 2015
Reggie Levine
Artist • Teacher • Leader
Celebrating Reggie
To Celebrate Reggie Levine is to Celebrate All the Arts on Nantucket. Reggie has been a part of the island’s history for almost all his life. His name is synonymous with all things ART and so on this Merit Award night, the “r” in art stands for Reggie, tonight’s star and our featured masterpiece The “Celebrating a Masterpiece” theme emerged on Reggie’s 80th birthday five years ago, when I spontaneously grabbed a large empty frame, propped it against assorted birthday gifts and placed it around him, a champagne in his hand. Voila! a work of art was created and the toasts followed. For my toast, I suggested that Reggie’s eight secrets to 80 were: art, cats, music, food, fun, friends, gardening, and God. Later, when I asked Reggie what his secret to aging has been, he said: “I have never been bored in my life.” And, to say the least, things have never been boring in my life whenever Reggie is involved. From the early days on Old South Wharf to the Main Street Gallery to Shakespeare in the Garden and the Nantucket Arts Council, from St. Paul’s Church to the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City—we have traveled together through heat waves and blizzards to reach cultural destinations here and abroad. Reggie’s infectious smile and wit, his curiosity and far-reaching intellectual capacity, are legendary, but I cherish most our early morning chats and check-ins, when the talk revolves around our cats, the garden, close friends, and, yes, the now inevitable matters of health. My friendship with this best-dressed man about town spans more than 40 years, as this program’s collection of photos attests to. We have celebrated every major holiday together as well as life’s momentous occasions, the good and the not so good, and we have made up a few along the way. Another famous artist has said, “It takes a long time to become young,” and I am almost certain that there are few who would deny that Reggie, who has chaired and been on almost every board on the island, has found the secret to staying young in his passion for the arts and in never being bored. Call him artist, teacher, leader, innovator, visionary, and collector—I call him family and best friend forever. Happy Birthday, Reggie, and may we celebrate many more. I am already planning your 90th!
Program cover art by Reggie Levine / Cover photo by Daniel Sutherland
~ Beverly Hall 1
2015 Merit Award Celebrating a Masterpiece
Reggie Levine
Reggie Levine and Jean Halberstam
On the occasion of his 85th Birthday Wednesday, July 1, 2015 John Miller
Nantucket Dreamland Film and Performing Arts Center 5:30 – 8 PM Proceeds benefit scholarships for students pursing studies in visual, performing and literary arts
Alexandra La Paglia, Bee Shay and Cristal Chindamo
Nantucket Arts Council
John Belash, Dan Driscoll and
Founded in 1973, Nantucket Arts Council is a non-profit organization
Gene Mahon
supporting and encouraging a collaborative community of the visual, performing and literary arts through education, grants, scholarships and events.
Board of Directors
Dr. Gerald Mack
Dan Driscoll, President • Beverly Hall, Vice President Jack Fritsch, Vice President Gene Mahon, Secretary • Reggie Levine, President Emeritus Jack Fritsch
John Belash • Tara Young Early • Barbara Elder • Sarah Ellis Sharon Lorenzo • Dr. Gerald Mack • Bee Shay
Leslie Malcom
William Ferrall, Executive Director Alexandra La Paglia, Director of Operations P.O. Box 2176 / 5 North Water Street • Nantucket MA 02584 Tara Young Earley
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508-325-8588 • www.nantucketartscouncil.org
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Nantucket Arts Council Nantucket Arts Council supports and encourages a collaborative community of the visual, performing and literary arts through education, grants, scholarships and events. In addition, we are playing a leadership role in the ongoing effort to designate a portion of our downtown as a Massachusetts Cultural District. The arts and related cultural assets of a community help ensure our overall good health, especially in the arenas of social interaction, education, economic vitality and personal satisfaction. With our Merit Award, we celebrate our island’s arts and culture and those who help them to flourish.
Nantucket Arts Council Merit Award Recipients Susan P. Jarrell 2003 • Deborah Beale 2004 • Lucile W. Hays 2005 Paulette Allemand 2011 • Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson 2012 • Max Berry 2013 Reggie Levine 2015 Other noteworthy events presented this year by Nantucket Arts Council
National Theatre Live / Metropolitan Opera Live / Bolshoi Ballet Live A program of Nantucket Dreamland Film and Performing Arts Center Marketing support for live and repeat broadcast programming 2014-2015 Downtown Celebrity Concerts Five concerts by renowned musicians (March through May 2015) Presented with Nantucket Dreamland Film and Performing Arts Center Five O’Clock Shadow Rock a cappella group with Nantucket native Caleb Whelden (May 2015) Presented at Nantucket High School and free in concert with support from Nantucket Golf Club Foundation. Nantucket Arts Council Merit Award to Reggie Levine: Celebrating a Masterpiece Wednesday, July 1, Nantucket Dreamland The Moth Mainstage Presented in partnership with Theatre Workshop of Nantucket and White Heron Theatre Company Tuesday, August 4, 8:00 pm, Unitarian Church Third Annual Baroque Concert by Candlelight Wednesday, August 5, 6 pm, St. Paul’s Church Nantucket Arts Festival Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 11 Our generous supporters this year include
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Froelich Foundation • Nantucket Golf Club Foundation Hy-Line Cruises • Nantucket Bank • Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines Atlantic Mainstay / Brant Point Inn • Carriage House • Hawthorne House
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Nantucket Arts Council Scholarships and Grants for the Arts For Graduating High School Seniors Nantucket Arts Council provides scholarships to year-round Nantucket residents who are graduating high school seniors and who are majoring in the arts at an accredited college. Nantucket Arts Council will support study in the fields of music, dance, literature, drama and the visual arts. Selections for scholarships are merit based and will be made after considering recommendations, interviews, and examples of a candidate’s work. Scholarships are awarded at graduation.
Youth Awards for Extended Study Nantucket Arts Council also provides scholarships to year-round Nantucket middle and high school aged students who are enrolling in summer, afternoon or evening extra-curricular programs in the arts. Nantucket Arts Council will support study in the fields of music, dance, literature, drama, and the visual arts. Selections for scholarships will be made based on recommendations, interviews, and examples of a candidate’s work. Decisions are based on merit.
Jean Halberstam Scholarship for the Arts Jean Halberstam was a lover of the arts and a loyal patron of the arts on Nantucket. As a dedicated Nantucket Arts Council board member, Jean worked on various committees and was responsible for helping to bring expanded programming to the Dreamland Theater with performances of the National Theatre Live, The Met Live, and The Bolshoi Ballet. The Jean Halberstam Scholarship for the Arts is a fund for Nantucket students dedicated to a future in the arts.
The Claudia Kronenberg Scholarship and Grant Fund Established in June 2014, this fund was created by Claudia Kronenberg’s family and the Nantucket Arts Council to honor Claudia’s personal courage, her caring and support of others, and her vibrant vision and talent with design and photography. Your support enables the family and the Nantucket Arts Council to provide continuing recognition on Nantucket of Claudia’s gifts to us through her work and in her caring for others.
Grants for Artists and Nonprofits We are honored to have given over $250,000 in grants since 1994 to Nantucket nonprofit cultural organizations presenting on-island community programs throughout the year, especially those benefiting the young. This collaborative program is made possible in part by the generosity of the Dr. and Mrs. Walter Willard Boyd and family. Our grant recipients include Artists Association of Nantucket, Nantucket Dreamland Foundation, Nantucket Atheneum, Nantucket Book Festival, Nantucket Community Music Center, A Safe Place, and Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. To learn more about our scholarship programs and grants to individual artists and nonprofit arts and cultural groups, visit nantucketartscouncil.org. Contributions to any of our funds may be mailed to Nantucket Arts Council, P.O. Box 2176, Nantucket, MA 02584.
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Leah Valentine Hull, Zoe Loughery, and Michael Proch Awarded Nantucket Arts Council Scholarships for 2015 Nantucket Arts Council awarded three scholarships this year of $2,500 each to graduating Nantucket High School students pursuing further education in the arts. Leah Valentine Hull was accepted at Pace University to study performing arts and music therapy, or arts and entertainment business administration. Zoe Loughery plans to enter UMass Dartmouth to study for a BFA in art and ceramics. Michael Proch was accepted at St. Michael’s College to study music and English. The scholarships were awarded during Nantucket High School’s graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 6. Nantucket Arts Council is the only organization on Nantucket dedicated to promoting all of the arts for the entire year-round community, and is especially dedicated to introducing young people to the arts and encouraging their creative involvement. Towards that aim, each year Nantucket Arts Council awards scholarships to deserving Nantucket students who wish to continue their education in the arts.
Leah Valentine Hull
Michael Proch
Zoe Loughery
Since 1995, Nantucket Arts Council has awarded 26 scholarships to graduating high school students who have demonstrated talent and commitment to arts disciplines with plans to continue their studies at an accredited college or school. Beginning in 2012, Nantucket Arts Council broadened the program to include middle and upper school students who wish to take advantage of advanced or extra-curricular studies both on and off island, typically during the summer. Net proceeds from Nantucket Arts Council’s Merit Award, given to someone on Nantucket who has made exceptional contributions to boosting the island’s arts and culture, are added to Nantucket Arts Council’s invested scholarship fund.
Children sent to Boston Ballet by Nantucket Arts Council
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Congratulations from your loving Nobby Shop family.
So, Reggie, here we are. Here’s the skinny on what your friends are whispering when you’re out of earshot. “He looks just the same.” “How does he do it?” But you can’t evade the evidence. We’ve all known you through so many community associations over the years: NHA. Nantucket Atheneum. St. Paul’s Church. Nantucket Arts Council. Artists Association of Nantucket. The Main Street Gallery.
“The Sphinx,” Reggie Levine, oil, 1956
Of course it’s really memories of you that animate those decades. You are sitting on the porch of Wateredge, with Elizabeth Saltonstall. Visiting your Washington Street neighbor, Louise Emerson. En plein air jaunts with your dear friend, Charlotte Kimball, erecting her unstable easel. Myself, I treasure the times you’ve invited me into the private museum of your home to discuss the art colony, the 70s scene, and the AAN founders you’ve known. And I truly thank you for your involvement in our Permanent Collection, wave upon wave of donations from your Main Street Gallery that allowed me to mount the exhibition at the Coffin School. A revelation on those golden decades when you, Marianne, Lynnette, welcomed fabulous artists with open arms, new blood who washed ashore to reinvigorate our art colony at sea: John Austin. Keith McDaniel. Polly and Bobby Bushong. Painters you encouraged and supported. You see, I have a secret theory, well not secret now, that what keeps you looking like the same Reggie in those black and whites that Beverly shot ages ago, what your secret is… it’s your generosity. We all thank you for that. Bobby Frazier, Curator of Exhibitions Artists Association of Nantucket
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A Nantucket masterpiece. Congratulations, Reggie!
Beverly and David Reggie
Cheers to Reggie from the Madaket Martini Mafia!
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Michael Gaillard, Maia Farish, and Libby Oldham wish to thank you, dear Reggie, for the years and years of friendship, support, inspiration,
! e i g g e R o t f f o s t Ha
and, especially, the laughter!
Hats off to the Regg-Meister!
It’s been an honor and a pleasure... and an awful lot of fun working with you. Jack and Ciara Fritsch, and Howard Chadwick The Antiques Depot, 23 Federal Street, Nantucket
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Thanks for your memorable performances, Reggie
ays,
cile H d winners: Lu us Merit Awar io ev . pr le ea ith B w ah Reggie Levine rrell and Debor and, Susie Ja Paulette Allem
Seward and ard winners: Aw it er M us ays. with previo l and Lucile H Reggie Levine n, Susie Jarrel so hn Jo e yc Cecelia Jo
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Photos sponsored by Beverly Hall and Lucile Hays
~ Island Stage
1993 – 1996 Ginny Irwin and Linda Knox 15
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Here’s to opening many new pages, Reggie, from Mitchell’s Book Corner on Main Street
Art ists Associat ion of Nantucket celebrates Reggie
Cheers to Reggie, the artist 18
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You never know what you might find at Nantucket Looms
Here’s to a man of class, elegance, and charm. Congratulations, Reggie.
Thank you, Reggie, for your many years of supporting all the arts on Nantucket ~ Nantucket Community Music Center
~ Your friends at Le Languedoc
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Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.
Happy birthday, congratulations, and thank you for all your contributions to the arts. ~ ACK Eye
–Stanislaw Jerzy Lec Reggie –
To a true visionary. Nantucket’s Nonprofit Film & Performing Arts Center
Wishing you a very Happy Birthday. Louise Martling Eleventh Hour Design
Congratulations, Reggie,
from your friends, the Stendahls
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Congratulations from Peachtrees and Stephany Goldsmith Hunter. Color Portrait of Reggie by Sybil Goldsmith
Congratulations, Reggie from all of your friends at South Wharf Gallery. You are an inspiration. ~ Mary Beth and Jack
Thank you, Frame Center of Nantucket, for helping us frame our masterpiece. 24
Hatch’s sends cheers to Reggie. 25
You reap what you sow, and what a magnificent harvest! – Susan Lister Locke
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Thank you for being my mentor for 45 years. 1970: How to own a photography gallery 1970: How to own a Main Street business (Camera Shop) as a hippie 1970: How to be accepted at the classiest restaurant on the island (Opera House) 1974: How to give back to the community (Nantucket Arts Council) 1970-2015: When in doubt, what would Reggie do?
Gene Mahon
Thank you, Petticoat Row Bakery, for birthday sweets for Reggie.
Young’s Bicycle Shop is proud to honor Reggie.
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Photo: Katie Kaizer Photography
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Thank you, Reggie, for showing my art and sharing your knowledge about Nantucket artists,
“Boy Looking at Fishbowl,� Reggie Levine, oil, 1956 Photo courtesy of NHA
past and present. Kathleen Duncombe, Made on Nantucket
To our dear compatriot and friend in design, travel, fun, and laughter, for all these many years.
r! e r e Happy Bir thday, Merry Wand Reggie as Puck 30
We wish you the happiest 85th birthday, Reggie, and many, many more. With love and admiration, from all your fans at Nantucket House Antiques and Interior Design 31
Nantucket Lobster Trap celebrates Reggie, a man of good taste.
St. Paul’s Church thanks Reggie. Enjoy your day with mirth and laughter, Reggie! 32
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Thank you, Dr. Suzanne Duncan and Drake, for bringing Reggie to the ball.
Thank you to those who made tonight’s celebration possible Celebration Hosts
Connie and Dan Driscoll • Beverly Hall and David Billings • Sandi Holland Kathy Penske • Christie Cure • Carolyn Walsh Event Committee
Beverly Hall • Jack Fritsch • Bee Shay • Tara Young Earley L. Marjorie Harris • Lynette Mautner • William Ferrall Video Tribute: Dan Driscoll, Filmmaker Carriage Ride: Dr. Suzanne Duncan and Drake Images unless otherwise noted: Beverly Hall Photography
Additional Contributors
Thank you, Dan Driscoll, for tonight’s video tribute to Reggie.
Max Berry • Norvell Bullock • Sheila Daume • William Ferrall Barbara Fife - The Joelson Foundation • Froelich Foundation Lindsay Green • Greg and Judi Hill • Erich Holch Sally and Roger Horchow Ronay and Richard Menechel – Charina Foundation John Miller • Nantucket Historical Association Phil Stambaugh • Marie Sussek
Nantucket Dreamland Film and Performing Arts Center Melissa Bonvini Murphy, Executive Director Donald Dahlaire, Director of Theater Operations Tiffany B. Gallo, Director of Education • Grace Hull, Development Associate Megan McNeely Browers, Event Coordinator • Danny Harrison, Technical Supervisor White Heron Theatre Company Lynne Bolton, President and Artistic Director Michael Kopko, Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director
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Photo: Kit Noble Photography
Callie Barber, Director of Development • Nancy Walker, Director of Marketing
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Congratulations, Reggie In memory of Jean Halberstam, dear friend and board member of Nantucket Arts Council 36
w w w. n a n t u c k e t a r t s c o u n c i l . o r g